The Limpopo Mirror and its sister paper, the Zoutpansberger, have once again proved that small-town newspapers can hold their own against South Africa’s best community publications. The group has picked up several finalist nominations in the 2025 AVBOB FCJ Excellence Awards.
The strongest showing came in the Municipal News/Local Government Reporting category, where three of the group’s journalists made the national top 10: Anton van Zyl and Thembi Siaga of the Limpopo Mirror, and Andries van Zyl, formerly of the Zoutpansberger and now news editor at the Limpopo Mirror. Their nominations reflect the paper’s strong coverage of governance, service delivery and accountability.
Andries van Zyl and Maanda Bele were also named top-10 finalists in the Hard News/Investigative Reporting category, one of the competition’s toughest. Anton van Zyl picked up a further nomination in Digital Reporting. The Zoutpansberger, which stopped print publication in December 2025, was named a top-10 finalist in the Newspaper of the Year (Paid) category.
This is the latest in a long run of national recognition for journalists from Limpopo’s far north. Reporters and editors from the two titles have regularly featured among the finalists in some of the awards’ most competitive categories over the years — proof, organisers say, that strong journalism isn’t confined to big-city newsrooms.
The awards are run by the Forum of Community Journalists (FCJ) and sponsored by AVBOB. This year’s competition drew almost 600 entries from community papers and digital publications nationwide. Judges singled out the authenticity and tenacity of local reporters, especially in stories covering municipal failures, corruption, crime and water security.
Winners will be announced at a gala event in Pretoria on 21 August 2026.